


Friends not Food

by bitsnbobs



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Aaron Dingle Week, Aaron and pets, Day 1, Dogs, Fish, Humour, M/M, No mention of current stuff, light and fluffy, minor spoiler
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2017-11-06
Packaged: 2019-01-30 10:01:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12651333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bitsnbobs/pseuds/bitsnbobs
Summary: Aaron + pets'The sound of the water was more relaxing and less ‘you are going to need the toilet’ than he had first thought.'





	Friends not Food

Aaron descended the spiral staircase, rubbing at his eyes. When he removed them and started to hear the voices in the living room, he frowned. 

“Just hold it there.”

“I am holding- I can’t go any further.”

It was Robert and Liv. They appeared to be measuring a space in the corner of the room. 

“Am I going to regret asking what you are doing?” Aaron called at them, causing the blonde pair to stop and look in his direction.

Robert had a huge grin on his face, “We’re getting a fish tank.” Aaron starred at him and then glanced to Liv, who shrugged. “Just trying to see how big a tank we can have,” Robert continued, snapping the measuring tape back with a satisfying click.

Aaron took a breath and moved towards his husband, “Is this because of that Blue Planet documentary?” He asked, stopping to give Robert a brief kiss, then smirking, “Because I can tell you now, a whale will not fit in this flat.”

“No, it could have the flat next door,” Liv snorted, sitting down in the space and leaning with her back to the wall, “Probably be a better tenant than the last one.”

“Urgh,” Robert wrinkled his nose, “Let’s not talk about them.”

“No,” Aaron agreed, “Let’s talk about this fish tank instead.”

The grin returned to his husband’s face, “Yeah, come on, fish are supposed to be relaxing, and well, we could all do with that around here sometimes.”

“Speak for yourself,” Liv huffed, but Aaron ran a knowing hand down his arm. 

“And they aren’t that hard to keep. If we do our research.”

Aaron bit his lip and then grimaced, “I don’t know. I’ve never had fish. Don’t they just swim around? Looking at you?”

“No,” Robert nudged him, “I’m fairly sure, we’ll be mostly looking at them. Hence the expression ‘Like being in a fish bowl.’

“Besides,” Liv teased, “Who would want to look at you two?”

“Oi,” both Aaron and Robert protested at once, causing them to smile and lean in for a kiss. 

Liv groaned and began to stand, “These fish are going to be traumatised.”

…

Aaron never thought he would be the type of guy that would own fish. Not for any particular reason. It’s just that other people had fish tanks. Bond villains had fish tanks. Fancy hotels had fish tanks. Aaron Dingle didn’t have a fish tank.

Until he did. 

It had been bloody hard work to set up too. Nearly brought about a war. 

But then he was kind of mesmerised by it. Left alone in the house; Robert at work and Liv probably getting up to allsorts with Gerry. 

The sound of the water was more relaxing and less ‘you are going to need the toilet’ than he had first thought. 

And the fish. He liked watching them. They were all different. They all seemed to have personalities. 

It was colourful. Calm. It stilled a piece of his mind.

… 

There were times when Robert was overwhelmed with love for his husband and quite often these moments came when he least expected them. 

Robert had slept in. Utterly exhausted after being sat on the motorway for hours, after the meeting from hell.

Aaron was already up. Robert heard him before he saw him. 

“I think you should be called Rocky, because you look like you could handle yourself in a fight. And you, I’m calling you Nemo, because, no offence, you look a bit lost, mate.”

Aaron was naming the fish. Aaron was naming the fish. Robert made his way as quietly as he could down the last of the stairs and smiled at the sight of his husband; he was leaning on the end of the sofa, coffee in hand, watching the brand new fish intently. They had only had them since the morning before, Robert not having much chance to enjoy them since rushing off for work in the afternoon. And when he had left in the afternoon, Aaron had decided that installing a fish tank had been the hardest task he’d ever undertook (Robert had tried to joke that that was the Ikea wardrobe, but it only earned him a death glare) and Robert wasn’t sure whether he had made a huge error.

Robert had wanted to get Aaron a dog. He really had. Adam leaving had hit his husband hard. Robert knew it was like someone had taken his brother away. He knew what that felt like. Except Aaron and Adam had actually been close. “Just like Aaron and Clyde,” Paddy had said during a half-drunken rant in the pub. Robert hadn’t been sure why Paddy was drunk and ranting, he didn’t really care, but it had given him an idea.

Except because Adam had gone, there was more work at the scrapyard and Aaron couldn’t be there to give a dog the attention it needed. Or that Aaron would want to give it. Liv had been the reluctant voice of reason. 

Robert had a rethink. He’d asked around. In all honesty, he had watched a few Attenborough documentaries. And Liv thought it was a good idea too. 

So they got the fish tank. 

“Oi,” Aaron laughed, leaning forward to point at one of the fish, “If you go near the filter and get stuck again, I will leave you there.”

“No, you wouldn’t,” Robert countered, eyes shining as he made his husband jump slightly, but still receiving a soft smile. 

“No, I wouldn’t” Aaron agreed, gesturing for Robert to come closer, “You need to see Dave. He’s got this cool spot thing on his back.”

“Dave?” Robert snorted, making his way to Aaron’s side, “You called a fish Dave?”

“Yeah,” Aaron shrugged, leaning his head against Robert’s shoulder, “He keeps repeatedly doing funny things.”

“Ah,” Robert nodded, “So like your favourite TV channel.”

“Exactly,” Aaron raised his cup.

“So…” Robert smirked, “Which one of these fish is called Top Gear then?”

Aaron rolled his eyes, “Better than them all been named after some obscure Stephen King references.”

Robert sniffed and pointed at the tank, “I don’t know, that one could be a Pennywise? It kind of looks like a clown fish.”

“Hmmm,” Aaron nodded, “Pennywise it is then.”

“You haven’t named them all?”

“No,” Aaron looked up at Robert with narrowed eyes, “You and Liv should get a turn.”

“Why?” Robert asked, forgetting himself, “They are your fish.”

Aaron blinked and stared at Robert intently, “Robert, did you get me a fish tank?” Robert just lent in to give his husband a kiss. “You are something else,” Aaron snorted.

Robert lent his forehead against his husband’s, “Something good though, right?” he asked, before stepping backwards and gesturing towards the tank and then the room at large, “You have to admit, it looks good too.”

“Trust you to think of it in terms of interior design,” Aaron laughed, “but,” he conceded, “It does look good. And it is good. They are kind of cool.”

“Kind of cool?” Robert repeated and then he bent forward to talk to the fish, “Hear that guys? Aaron thinks you are ‘kind of cool’. That means he loves you.”

“Shut-up,” Aaron nudged him with a grin, which made Robert retaliate with a poke to the ribs, causing his husband to giggle. And Aaron giggling was quite possibly Robert’s favourite sound in the world. 

…

“Benny,” Robert called, “Come away from that tank.”

“He’s not doing any harm,” Aaron laughed, “He just likes watching the fish as much as I do.”

“He’s not moved for about half-an-hour, Aaron,” Robert stated, running a hand through Benny’s hair as the dog padded passed him to Aaron, “I’m worried he’s planning his next meal.”

Aaron snorted and bent down to hold Benny’s head in his hands, “Now, listen here, Benny. The fish are friends, not food.”

Robert rolled his eyes and pulled Aaron up straight, “I'm going to work,” he lent in for a kiss, "I shall leave you all alone and trust that nothing will go wrong.”

“We’re all going out for a walk, aren’t we Benny?” Aaron was back bending in front of the dog; hands ruffling through his soft ears. 

“You, the dogs and the fish, eh?” Robert joked, “That should be fun.”

“He’s thinks he’s such a comedian,” Aaron said to Benny, with a groan. Benny just wagged his tail. 

…


End file.
